The theme of the week was "less is more". I woke up on Monday morning and my body felt like a train wreck. I couldn't straighten my right arm, and to add insult to injury, it was freezing cold, rainy, and just down right nasty outside. It wasn't hard to take it as a sign that the body needed a complete rest day and I had no problems doing so. I never schedule rest days and I prefer to take them as needed.

So after Monday, I decided to keep the good recovery times going. Although still fairly even keel mentally, I had some signs that fatigue was starting to build up, and frankly it just seemed like a good time to get rid of it. As a result, every time the decision came down to "should I do MORE or LESS", I wisely chose less. By the end of the week I was starting to feel really good and smashed the Friday swim set. Then on Saturday I blew the barn doors off my ride. The ride Saturday was enough to give me full confidence that the bike is completely back and my endurance is rising like a champ. It would be all talk at this point, but I know internally that it is game on in 2013.

Rider Heads Out for a Night Lap @ 24 Hours in Old Pueblo

The only downside to the week is that I missed out on some swim sessions do to a chemical problem at the pool. Hopefully it is resolved by tomorrow and I can get back at it. Frankly it all still comes down to the swim for me and I can't afford not to be swimming.

Lastly, in addition to physical recovery, I also got a chance to recharge the mental batteries by playing sherpa at 24 Hours in Old Pueblo on Saturday. For those that don't know 24 Hours in Old Pueblo is a 24 hour MTB race but with an epic amount of participation. The make shift village that crops up in the middle of nowhere to support the 4000 racers was insane. In addition, it was so cool to take a high vantage point and be able to watch all the lights in the distance at night.